Method of and apparatus for coating articles



G. W. BEADLE Marh 3, 1931.

METHOD of' AND APPARATUS FOR COATIG ARTICLES Filed May 27,v 1927 '7 Shets-Sheet 1 .Amie IMI' March 3, ^1931. v G. w. BEADLE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR COATING ARTICLES 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 27, 1927 A Tl' ORNE K5 Machg, 1931. G, w BEADLE METHOD 0F AND APPARATUS FOR COATING ARTICLES Filed May 27, 1927 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 1N VENTO/e A TTORNEKS.

March 3, 1931. G. w. BEADLE 1,794,751l

I METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR COATING ARTICLES Filed May 27, 1927 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 I v- A NVENTOR A A TTORNEYJ:

March 3, 1931.

G. W. BEADLE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR COATING ARTICLES Filed May 27, 1927 '7 Sheets-Shea?I 5 m NTOR @w27 A March 3, 193.1. G. w. BEADLE A 1,794,751

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR COAII'NG ARTICLES' Filed May 27. 1927 7 SheetsSheet 6 IN VEN TOR.

Uff@ @fw/ AWORNEYJ,r

March 3, 1931. G. w. BEADLE 1,794,751

METHOD OF-AND APPARATUS FOR COATING ARTICLES Filed May 27, 1927 '7 sheets-Sheet '7 DDCIDCIIZIEDDDEIDCIDEID I /INVENTOR.

7W @MW ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 3, 1.931

UNITED STATES PATENT vOFFICE GEORGE W. BEADLE, OF NEW YORK, Y.; HAROLD I. BEADLE, ADMINISTRATOR 0F SAID GEORGE W'. BEADLE, DECEASED, ASSIGNOR TO THE CELLACOTE COMPANY,

INC., A CORPORATION 0F NEW YORK METHOD 0F AND`APPARATUS FOR OOATING/ARTICLES Application filed May 27, 1927. Serial No. 194,609.

the article of. a coating material in liquidy form and its subsequent treatment while on the article to cause itto harden and set, as set forth in an application filed by me August 12,1925, serial No. 49,680.

The invention is concerned especially with the coating of perishable articles, viz., fruits, vegetables, and the like, such for instance as eggs, etc.,to preserve the same from deterioration or decay, and thus prolong their edible periods, but the invention is applicable as well as will be apparent from the description to follow, to the coating of other commodities and articles to protect them and facilitate their shipment and handling, and to preserve the line fia-6a of Fig. 2.

them in sanitary condition.

The coating material which it is preferred to employ in carrying out the invention is a hydrated cellulose solution such as Xanthate cellulose, which in accordance with the invention, is applied to the articles in an improved manner and by means of an apparatus of improved form so as to completely cover the article, and the coating thereafter subjected to treatment in suitable treating` solutions which will have the effect of coagulating and, purifying the cellulose coating and cause it to become transparent, which on drying `will shrink and embrace the article under initial tension. y,

The invention therefore consists ofthe improved coating apparatus, `and the improved method involved'in the operation of said ap- Fig. lis a side elevation of the improved apparatus, certain of the tanks for the treating solutions being omitted.

'Fig 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional elevation of the same. f

lFig. 3 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale of the forward end of the tank of the rst treating solution, showing in elevation a portion of the conveyor chain in the act of y around the vdriving support.

discharging the coated article into the tank for treatment. p 'i Fig. 4fY is a view in side elevation on an-enlarged scale of the rear end of one' of the conveyor chains, showing the driving support for said chain and the device for controlling the position of the articles in their passage Fig. 5 is a plan View broken away and showing at the top of the figure the upper stretch of one set of conveyor chains, and at the-bottom ofl the figure the lower stretch of an adjacent set of conveyor chains.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional elevation on an enlargedscale on the line 6 6 of Fig. 2 as viewed inthe direction of the arrows on said line.

Fig. 6a is a fragmentary sectional view on Fig. 7 is a vertical sectionalelevation on the line of 2.

. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of one of the article-holding baskets, the same being detached from its carrying chains.

Fig. 9 is an end elevation of the same, showing in full lines receiving position of the basket, and in dotted lines its discharging position.

Figs. 10 and l1 are diagrammatic views showing the different positions in which the articles are supportedto receive the coating material and the air blast.

Fig. 12 is a view in the nature of a diagram of the entire apparatus showing ow the articles after receiving the coating inaterial. are subjected successively to the treating"solutions, the water bath, and are finally dried. .j

Fig. 13is a plan view ofthe same. i

. Fig. 14 `is a side elevation of mechanism for feeding the articlesautomatically to the cellulosic coating material; a tank 3 contains ing a neutral salt solution such as ammonium sulfate into the forward end of which the coated articles are discharged by the conveyor 1 onto a conveyor 4 in the tank, which latter conveyor carries lthe articles rearwardly in the tank; a second tank 5 containing an acid solution` such as sulfuric acid, into thev for-A ward end of which the articles are delivered by theconveyor onto a conveyor 6 in the tank .Y

5 which carries the articles rearwardly in said tank; -a third tank .7 containing washing waterinto the forward end of which the articles are delivered by thel conveyor 6 onto a conveyor` 8 in` the tank 7 by which the articles are carried rearwardly in said ank; 25'

a conveyor 9 which receives the articles from a the conveyor 8 nd which carries them rearwardly'beneatha nozzle 10 for applying a softening solution to prevent the 'coating when dried from becoming too brittle; and a drier 11 into which the articles are deliveredby the conveyor 9 for their final drying.

The articles subjected to the action of this mechanism` are first completely coveredwith the coating material flowing downwardly from the nozzles 2 and 2, the saidarticles after rece'ving the flow of material from thel first-noz le being changed in position and presented to the second nozzle in its changed position so that the material will iow yon such portions of the article, as may have been left uncovered bythe material from the first nozzle,.and the article will be completely covered by the coating material. The coated articles are `now carried by the conveyor rearwardly nits upper stretch and then returned forwar y on its lower stretch, the comparatively long path of travel of the varticles giving time for the coating material to drain from the articles and to distribute itself evenly and uniformly' over the articles, which action is facilitated by reversing the position` of the articles as they reach apoint about midway of their return travel, such reversal of the articles being effected by turning the same a half revolution ontheconveyor. At the end of their t'ravel the articles with the coating'l material evenly and uniformly distributed thereon are passed successively through the ammoniumsulfate treating solution and the sulfuric acid treating solution respectively in the tanks 3 and'5, the effect of which solutions'will be to coagulate and purify the coating and render the same selfholding and transparent. The articles with the coagulated andl purified coating thereon are washed in the water bath tank 7, which washing action will remove all traces of the treating solutions and in this condition the articles are covered with a softening material issuing from the nozzle lOvand are then finally dried in the drier 11. Y

As a result of these operations as carried out in the'apparatus'abo've described, the uncoated articles fed into the machine are so acted on by the several automatically acting cooperating units that said articles issue from the machine each completely enveloped in a homogeneous transparent non-adherent coating embracing the article under initial tenslon. Y

The operative parts of the apparatus are mounted in and sustained by a suitable frame consisting of uprights 13 extending upwardly from the opposite sides of the tank 3, cross bars 14 connecting the opposing uprights,

-and longitudinal bars 15 connecting said upv rights and extending at their forward ends beyond the forward end of the tank and forming a front frame extension 15a.

The conveyor 1 is mounted in this frame- .work and is made up of a number, in the present instance six, .conveying units to give the machine greater capacity, each of which lunits is identical 'in form and`construction and all of which are operated from a common source of power, so that at one time a great number of'articles can be handled and subjected at\the same .time to the coating operation; but it will be understood that a greater or less number of units may be provided without departing from the limits of the invention the advantages and purposes ofwhich could be realized by the employment of but a single conveyor unit.

As best shown in Figs. 5, 6, 8, 9 `and 13, each conveyor unit comprises two endless chains 16 traveling side by side in spaced relations andA mounted and driven` in the manner presently to be described, and article holders in the form of baskets or cages 17 of the construction shown in Figs.v 8 and 9, which baskets are loosely suspended at intervals between the links of the opposing chains, so that while said baskets will be pulled alon by the travel of the chains they may be cause in such travel to assume different angular positions relative to thechains to the end that the coating material lwill be caused to completely cover the articles held in the baskets,

shown, the spacing of the `bars 19 being such that the articles 'will beareceivcd between the bars whenthc basket is in its upright receive ing posit-ion, and in'such position the article will rest on the lower' pins 22 as shown in Fig. 9". VAt their upper ends the end frames 18 of the baskets-have pivoting studs 17a prov jecting outwardly therefrom, which studs are j ournaled in the links 16l of the opposing chains, whereby the baskets are gravitatingly suspended from the chains and can tilt and rock relatively theretoand assume the differ-- ent angular 4positions referred to, and can also be reversed in position as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 9 when the articles are to bev discharged from the baskets as will be described later on.

At the forward end of' the machine the chains of the several units pass over the sprocket wheels 23 on a shaft 24 mounted in bearings on theV frame extension 15a, and at the rear the chains' pass. around sprocket wheels 25 on a shaft 26 journaled in bearings in the upper ends of the rear frame uprights 13. rlhe shaft 26 has fixed to it a driving sprocket wheel 27 driven from a sprocket` chain 28 receiving its motion from a sprocket wheel 29 from a main driving shaft l30 as shown in Fig. 13, by which means the chains of the several units will be driven in unison to causeftheir upper stretches to travel'to the rear as indicated by the dotted arrow in Fig. 2. p i

A short distance in` rearof the sprocket wheels 23', the chains ass beneath idler vsprocket Wheels 31 on a s iaft 32 mounted in bearings on the frame extension 15a, and from the undersides of the idler sprockets 31 the chains pass upwardly and over idler `sprockets 33 loosely mountedon a shaft 34 journaled 'in bearings on the machine frame. At a point adjacent the forward end of the tank 3, the chains pass under and around idler sprocket wheels 35 on a shaft 36 lmounted in bearings 37 on the machine frame (see Figs. 2

and 6), and from these sprocket wheels the chains pass upwardlyl and over idler sprockety wheels 38 fixed to a shaft 39 journal'ed in bearings supported by thev frame extension 15B. From the sprocket wheels 38 the chains pass downwardly and around the lowensides` of idler sprocket wheels 40 onf a shaft 4:1 mountedin bearings on the frame extension,

whence the chains pass upwardly and around the frontlsprocket wheels 23 before alluded to. l

The material supplying nozzles 12 and 2a hereinbefore referred to are positioned to distribute the coating material onto the articles supplied with thecoating materialv by a vertical pipe 43 connected at its upper end to said distributing pipe. The discharge endsv of the nozzles arein vertical alignment with the path of travel of the articles in the bas-' kets, so that as the articles pass beneaththe nozzlesin succession they will receive ony grapefruit, and the like, the coating material if allowed to flow downwardly on the article will at'the yunderside of the article tend to divide into two streams, y which flowing from the surface of the article will leave an ,uncoated area on the underside. In order to prevent the occurrence of this uncovered area and insurethat all p rts 'of the surface will be` covered bythe ma erial in its downward How from the nozzles, I propose to change the position of the'article after it receives the material from the first nozzle and present the article in a different position to the second nozzle, and in vsuch position that the material iowing from the 'second nozzle willrflow overl the uncovered area left by the material from the first nozzle, so thatpthe coating material supplied by the twonozzlesy will completelycover the entire surface of the article.

This change imposition of the article is ef# fected in the present instance by thecon' struction and' arrangement of parts shown in Fig. 2, where it will be seen that the article A from the sides of the sprocket wheels, a number of said pins being provided and spaced' apart on the wheels to Ycorrespond 'to the spacinof the baskets on .the carrying chains. As the asket moves upwardly and rearwardlly over the wheels, with the basket in engagement with its associated pins, it will in passf ing over the top side of the wheel turn through 90 and in this position will pass b'eneath the 'nozzle 2,v thereby presenting the side of the article inposition to receive the downwardly flowing material as shown in Fig. 2 and at the right in Fig. 10. On the continued movement of the chains rearwardly, carrying the basket with them, the associated pins will move out of engagement with ,the basket and the latter being'no longer supported by said pins, will by gravity swing on 'its carrying chains to a pendant upri ht po- 'i sition, thereby moving the article in t e bas` ket back through 90 to its former position so as to present a different surface to the downward flow of the material from the nozzle 2a as the basket passes beneaththe nozzle as shown in dotted lines inrFig. 2, and at the left in Fig. .10. The stream of coating mate-` rialfrom the nozzle 2a will, by reason of this change of position of the article, pass over and cover the area left uncovered by the first stream, so that by the cooperative action-of the two streams on the article presented at relatively different positions to the respective streams, the complete covering of the articles by the coating material is insured.

vThe surplus material leaving the articles as the latter pass beneath the nozzles, is caught in a receptacle or tank suitably supported by the extension frame 15 from which receptacle a pipe 46 leads downwardly to a pump 47 by which the material is pumped back for useagain by a pipe 48 connecting the discharge'side ofthe pump with the supply pipe 43 before alluded to, it being understood that the supply of the material to the receptacle 45 will be replenished from time to time to make up for the material used in coating the articles.

' In' he travel of the baskets from the nozzle `2a to the idler sprockets 31 they pass beneath air blast nozzles 49 and 50 (see Figs. 2 and l 11), by which streams of air are directed onto the coatedarticles, the purpose of which is to remove the surplusmaterial and aid in the distribution of t-he material on the articles; and in order that these air streams may be caused to reach allportions of the coating,-means are providedfor changing theposition of thearticles afterbeing acted on by the first stream so that a different sur? face of the coated larticle will be presented to the action of the secondair stream. The

air nozzles 49 and 50 extend downwardly from a horizontal air distributing pipe 49a supplied with air'under pressure from any suitable source by a supply pipe 49", it being understood'thatthere willv bea set' of these nozzles for eachcpnveyor element; and the ends yofthe nozzles of the several `sets arearranged verticallyover the lines of travel of the baskets.K As shown in Fig. 2 and at the'right inFig.' 11, the' baskets each passbeneath nozzle 49 in a verticalI pendantl position, but as the basket leaves nozzle 49 vand approaches-nozzle 50 4it is rocked orl turned on its pivotal supports on the chains through' approximately 90, which rocking is effectedl byproviding in the path ofthe baskets, a series of pairs of cam plates 51 fastened to'a cross bar 52 supported on the frame extension 15a.l The forward 'portions 5,1n of the cam plates ,slope upwardly from 'their front ends, and therear portions 51"l slope downwardly and rearwardly from lthe rear ends of the forward portions, and they are so related to the paths of travel of the baslkets that the end frames of the basketsiwill as the baskets are drawn rearwardly by the chains in a vertical pendant position after leaving the air blast nozzle 49, ride up on the forward portions of the cam plates,` and en'- gaging the forward ends of the rear portions of t-he plates', theV baskets will be turned'on their pivotal supports on the chains through 90o, and the articles in their changed position willbe presented beneath air blast'nozzle 50 as shown in Fig. 2, and in Fig. 11 at the left. As the baskets in their continued rearward travel disengage the cam plates, they will gravitate to an upright position and inthis position Vwill be carried upwardly to the idler sprockets 33. l

' As the baskets are carried by the chains 'rearwardly over the sprocket wheels 33,'the' end frames of the baskets'will engage and ride on longitudinally extending tracks 52l supported by `vertical bars 53 fastened to the cross bars 14 before alluded to'. These tracks are fixed to the sides of longitudinal rails 54 which are in turn fixed to the upper ends of the bans 53 as best shown in Fig. 6,v the said rails 54givin support to the chains 16 in their travel. tn the rearward movement of the baskets along the tracks 52, the lower larms 18*b of the endvframes 18 at one side of the baskets will rest and travel on the tracks as shown in` Fig. 2 in which position of the baskets the articles therein are supported by the pins 21 and 22 at one side of the baskets, and the latter are maintained in this position throughout their travel `on the upper stretch of the chains, and while passing over/the rear sprockets 25, and until they reach a point aboutmidway of'their return travelon the lower stretch of the chains, at which point the baskets are automatically reversed in position and in such reversed position` arefcarried along to the'end of their return travel, atl which point, the baskets are automatically turned with their, bottom sides` up to discharge the articles/into the treating solution in tank 5. l l To effect these operations, the baskets as Ythey are carried around the rear idler sprockets 25 are'acted on by a series of upright pivotal armsl 55Inounted on a horizontal transverse shaft,56 journaledin bearings on the rear frame uprights 13, the said( arms being acted on by 'weights 57 tending to urge the armsforwa'rdly towards the baskets and in a position to engage and maintain engagevment/with the bars 19 ofthe baskets at one side. By'sucht engagement the baskets are prevented from tipp-ing or rocking on their `carrying chains as `they pass aro-und'the` wheels 25 and are therefore held in the same .position they occupied in their rearward -travel on the tracks4 52. As the baskets leave the lowery siderof the wheels and begin theirreturn movement on the lower stretch of the chains, the lower arms 18.b of the end frames yof the baskets will pass onto longitudinally extending tracks 58 supported by the vertical bars 53 before'alluded to, which .tracks are fastened to the inner sides of longitudinal rails 59, which are in turn'fastened to the inner sides of the bars 58 at their lower ends as shown in Fig. 6a, the rails 59 ward section. As the baskets leave the front' ends of the rear sections ,of the tracks and enter these gaps', they being no longer supported by the tracks, will gravitate on the chains through 90 to an upright pendant position, and as they arecarried forwardly by the chains the arms 18b of the end frames of the baskets at one side, will engage the down curved rear end 61 of t-he forward sections of the tracks, and by such engagement.,

the baskets will be rocked rearwardly on the chains through 90 and will be carried for-f ward in this position, the baskets in their.

passage from the rear sections of the tracks to the forward sections being thus reversed in position by being turned through 180. As a result of this reversal of the position l ofthe baskets in the-ir'rearward and forward return travel, the coating material will be given a further opportunity to drain from and distribute' itself evenly and uniformly I throughout the surface of the articles', since any uneven-distribution due to the articles being supported in one position in a portion of their travel, will be compensated for by a change in the position of the articles in the remainingportion of their travel.

. In order to catch -the coating material which may drain from the articles as they are carried rearwardly .in the baskets on the upper stretches of the chains, I provide in the space between the chains of each conveyor element, an endless conveyor belt 62 (see Fig. 2), which belts pass at their front around drums 63 fixed to the shaft 34 before alluded to, vand at their rear around drums 64 rotatable on the shaft 26 -before alluded to. The upper stretches of the belts are in position tov receivethe'coating material dripping from thejarticles .held in the baskets,l and the belts 'are driven'fin the direction of the full line arrow (Fig. 2) with their upper stretches moving' forwardly, by means of'a sprocket chain 65`driven from a sprocket wheel 66 on the -shaft 39 and passing around a Sprocket wheel 67 on the end terial caught on ,the conveyor belts will be carried forwardly and delivered into the re-v ceptacle 45,- the rear end of which is in a position, relative to the belts to 'receive'the material therefrom. K

The forward ends of the tracks 58 are inclined upwardlyT as at 58a (Fig. 3) and terminate a short distance from the idler sprockets 35, and as the chains 16 pull the baskets forwardly along these inclined ends of the tracks, due to the fact that the chains move in a path which'intersects the tracks, the baskets will be tilted upwardly and forwardly on their chains as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3, and will be drawn up the inclined ends of the tracks with theupper arms 18a at one? side of the end frames of the baskets resting thereori. As the basket is 'carried further along by the chains, it will be disengaged from the ends -of the tracks, and in such disengaging action the lower arms 18b will be dragged over the ends of the tracks and in doing so the basket will be tilted further forwardly and turned upside down and the article therein will'fall from(the basket by avity and be received in the forwardA end o the tank 5, it being'understood that the baskets on the chains will be thus turned bottom sideupin succession, and will act to successively discharge the articles into thel tank.

It will be notedfrom the foregoing description that in the different positions which the baskets assume relative to their carrying chains in the travel of the basketsfrom Vthe nozzles 2 and 2"L to the point where the articles are discharged into the tank 3, the article is supported in the basket wholly bythe pins 21 and 22. When the basket is in upright position as shown in Fig. 9 the article will be supported by both sets of lower pins 22; when the basket is drawn along on its side as fon the upper stretch of the chains in Fig. 2, thev arv ticlev willbe vsupported by both sets ofl pins 21 and 22\at one side, and when-the basket is reversed in position as shown on theV lower stretch of the chains in Fig;` 2 tothe right,

face by which the article receives its support being of very limited area, ypractically confined to point supports, the supportingpins l. will not interfere with the flow of the coating material to all parts of the surface of the article, and the complete covering of said surface by' the liquid coating material will be assured.

The conveyor 4 inthe tank 3' is in the form of an endless belt which passes at its forward end around an idler drum 68 and at itsrear end around a lower idler drum 69 and an upper idler drum70, the belt being caused at its rear end to travel atan upward inclina- Y wardly in thetank through the treating solution in oing around theupper idler 70, by means o .an idler drum 71'.beneath which the upper -stretch of the belt travels near its rear end.- The .belt is provided with a series of equally spaced transversely extending blades or cleats 72 between which the articles discharged into the tank Vfrom the' baskets are received, and by which they are carried reartion, in this instance as before stated a neutral salt solution such as ammonium sulfate. The articles discharged from the baskets, fall against a deflecting shield 73 within thetankand extending 'transversely across the front end of the same at a downward 1ncl1nat1on and in such relation to the blades on the con-l a downwardly inclined deflector plate 74 ex-.--

tendingtransversely' across the interior of the tank 5 near its forwardpend, and by suchplate the articles will be deflected rearwardly and delivered to the.'I endless conveyor 6V of the tank 5, which is similar in form and'construction to the conveyor 4 and the belt of which passes at its forward end around a drum 75 and at its rear end around upper and lower drums 76 and 77 and beneath a guide drum l78. The articles on the conveyor will as its belt travels upwardly around the upper guide drum 76, be lifted from the treating'- bath and deliveredl into the forward end of the tank 7 containing the washing water, the articles as they are discharged from the conveyor 6. falling onto an inclined deflector plate 79 in the forward end of tank 7 and being deflected by said plate to the conveyor 8 which is simi# lar in construction to the conveyors 4 and 6, the belt of said conveyor 8 passing around a forward drum 80 and around upper and lower rear drums 81 and 82 and beneath a.' guide drum 83. The articles on the conveyor 8 will be lifted from the rear end of the tank as the belt moves upwardly around the upper guidedrum 81 and willbe delivered in succession ontothe forward end of the conveyor 9, con!l sisting of an endless belt 84 traveling at its forward end around-a drum 85 and rear end around a drum 86 which belt is provided with cleats 87 between which the articles will be carried. This belt carriesthe articles rearwardly and into the drier 11 by which the articles are finally dried and ready for use, the articles as they are carried rearwardly tothe drier by the conveyor 9, passing beneath the discharge end of the nozzle 10.

` In the formof the apparatus h ereinbefore.`

\101 containing a supp y of the coating mayterial,` which pan is supported by the r described, the articles to be coated4 are placed by' hand in the baskets as they pass upwardly `1n succession in an upright position on the forward sides of the front -idler sprockets 23. y

I propose -however to provide for the automatic feed of the articles to the upwardly moving baskets, which in the present instance may be effected by the feed mechanism illusy trated in Figs. 14, 15, 16 and 17, where it will be seen that there is arranged in front of each vconveyor unit, a downwardly inclined runway or trough 88 on which the articles to Vbe coated are placed so that they will roll down by gravity and be discharged from its lower end. From the runway the articles are released one at a time by an escapement mechanism 89 which dehvers the same to a power operated feeding device 90 by which the ary ticles are fed in succession tothe baskets.

Theescapement mechanism consists of a detent member 91 pivoted between its ends Ona horizontal axis as at 92 toa Isupporting frame 93 located between the discharge end of the runway andthe sprocket wheels 23,

the said detent member consisting of a front block 94 and a rear block 95 connected together in spacedrelations by parallel plates 96 fixed to the sidesl of the blocks, wdaich latter. are grooved lin their upper sides to form guides for the articles. `The forward end of the detent member may thusy be moved up on its pivotal axis from'the position as shown in Fig. 14,in which position the front block 94 will be in Ialignment with the discharge end of the ,runway so that the article from the runway will pass onto said block, to the position as shown in Fig. 15, in which position the block 94 will extend across the end of the runway and act as a stop for the next article. A- xe'd block 97 is supported by the frame 93 and extends upwardly between the end blocks 9 4 and 95 and is grooved in its upper side to form a guideway for the articles, the said block 97 being in such position relative .to the detent member that it will act as a stop for the article supported by the block 94 as shown in Fig. 14 when the detent member is in its lowermost position, and' when the detent member is moved upwardly parts the end block will act as a stop for the article on the block 97, land willrelease said article -to permit it to pass to the feeding device 90 when the detent moves downwardly again. A

The feeding device 90 is in the form of a rotary feed wheel having a hub 98 fixed toa horizontal shaft 99 journaled in bearings on the frame 93, from which hub a number of radial arms in the form of wire loops 100 extend and which arms as the wheel is ro-` tated will sweep throu h a receptacle or pan\ front to'rear, whereby the arms will engage the articles as they enter the pan in succession from the escapement mechanism and will deliver said articles successively over the lip 102 and into the baskets traveling upwardly on the forward sides of the wheels 23 'Ihe detent member is moved up and down on its pivotal support by means of a toothed wheel 103 xed to a horizontal shaft 104 mounted in bearings on the frame 93, the toothed edge of which wheel engages a roller 105 on the forward endof a horizontal lever 106 pivoted between its ends as at 107 .to

said frame, they rear end ofthe lever being pivoted to the lower end of a link 107i whose upper end is pivoted to the rear end of the block 95. The toothed wheel is rotated from the feeding devi@ 90 by means' of a sprocket chain 108 passing over a sprocketwheel 109 on the shaft 104 and over a sprocket wheel 110 on the-shaft 99, the relative sizes of said sprocket wheels being such as to cause the escapement mechanism and feed wheel to be so coordinated in their.. movements that.the articles delivered in succession by the escapement mechanism will be engaged in suc-cession by the arms of the feed wheel. rl`he feed wheel receives its motion from the shaft 24 by means of a sprocket chain 111 passing around a sprocket wheel 112 on the shaft 99 and around a sprocket wheel `113 on a shaft `114 mounted in bearings on the extension frame 15, the said shaft 114 having fixed to it a pinion 115 meshing with a pinion 116 on the shaft 24. The relative ysizes of said sprocket wheels and pinions is such that the movement of the feed wheel will be so coordinated with the movement of the baskets, that the latter vwillr be positionedV successively to receive the articles as they are successively delivered by the feed wheel from the rear end vof the pan 101. The articles as they are -moved by the feed wheel throu'gh'the bath of coating materialv 'in the pan will receive on their surface a preliminary coating of, said material, the purpose of which is to prevent the occurrence of ,bubbles or pin holes in the coating applied by preliminary coating,` by means of the bath ofi the coating material 1n the pan 101, before the main coating is applied by the nozzles 2 and 2a, ayliability of the formationA of bubbles and pin holes in the coating will .be avoided.

In order that the baskets may be freed of any adhering coating material, after the discharge of the articles into tank 3, I provide a tank 117 which 'extends transversely beneath the sprocket wheels 40 and which is supported by the frame extension 15a. The tank is supplied with water, and is in such position relative to the wheels 40, that the baskets will,"in the travel of their carrying chains, be immersed in Iand carried through thel water bath and thereby washed before theyreceive a new supply of articles.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim is: 1. The process of covering articles with a protective cellulosic coating, which consists in applying hydrated cellulose in liquid condition successively to different portions of the article to completely cover the same, treating the coatedarticle successively with a solution of neutral salt and an acid solution, washing the treatedk article, and finally drying the same.-

2. The process of covering articles with a protective cellulosic coating, which consists in applying hydrated cellulose in liquid form to the article to completely cover the same, supporting the coated article successively in relatively different positions to permit they material t`o distribute itself over the article and the surplus material to drain therefrom, and treating the cellulosic coating to coagulate the same. i

3. In a coating apparatus, the combination of endless traveling chains, article holders carried by said chains, said holders` being shiftable to different positions relative to the chains, nozzles for applying liquid coating material'to the articles in the holders, said nozzles being arranged above the path of ...travel of the chains one behind the other, and means controlled by the travel of the'chains for shifting the position of the holders on the chains relatively to the nozzles so that the two streams of coating material will be ap- Mplied to different portions of the respective articles. I

4. In a coating apparatus, the combination of endless' traveling chains, article holders pivotally carried by the'. chains, means for applying coating material in liquid condition i to the articles in the holders, a tank to vcontain a treating bath for the 'coated articles, means whereby theearticles are automatically discharged from the holders into the forward end of the tank, means in the tank for carry- `ing the articles rearwardly, a second tank to contain a bath for treating the articles from the/ first tank, and means for delivering the artillesfrom the first tankinto the/second tan 5. In a coating apparatus, the combination of endless traveling chains, article Aholders carried by said chains and inovable relatively, thereto from a receiving position to a discharge position, means for applying liquid coating material to the articles in the holders, means for automatically moving the holders to discharge position, and a tank containing a bath of treating solution in position to receive the discharged articles.

1. 6. In a coating apparatus, the combination of a series of traveling article holders, a receptacle to hold the coating material, and a feed Wheel provided With arms movable through the coatingmaterial in the receptacle 15 to carry the articles to the article holders; whereby the articles delivered by the feed Wheel to the holders Will receive a preliminary coating-of the coating material.

In testimonyv whereof, JI have ailixed my 2o signature hereto.

' GEORGE W. BEADLE 

